Hot Rod first appeared in the Headmasters limited series as one of the Autobot crew led by Fortress Maximus. He became a Targetmaster in the fourth and final issue of the series. However, his Targetmaster partner is called Sparks, instead of Firebolt (though the UK comic would occasionally call him Firebolt). Hot Rod made sporadic appearances, with a few UK stories starring him as the lead, but most of those were set in the past or future. Kup's Story revealed the first meeting between Kup and Hot Rod, and how Hot Rod's influence shook Kup out of depression; and Ark Duty starred Hot Rod and set up the creation of Autobot City. Hot Rod debuted in the main continuity after the loss of many wars to the Underbase powered Starscream, as part of Fortress Maximus' group. He served as an eager soldier who idolized Optimus. However, he was killed during the Decepticon ambush on Klo in the last issue of the Marvel G1 comic, only to be resurrected by Prime and the Last Autobot.

The Happy Meal version of Energon Optimus Prime features a very similar transformation sequence to his larger figure, though his limited articulation means that his shoulder insignias aren't visible in robot mode when his arms are facing forward. His torso is hollow to contain his electronic "Energon Cube" accessory, which generates effects when activated by remote control. This remote is in the form of the Mini-Con jet Wreckage, and can mount on the top of his cab in truck form.

In another possible sequence of events, the trio returned to Autobot headquarters to relate their findings to Optimus Prime. The Decepticons planned to use a Destruction Beam to create a fault line near Center City, which would in turn be exploited by Rumble’s earthquake-inducing abilities to destroy the entire area. The Autobots then decided to split up in two groups, one to attack the Decepticons’ fortress, the other to stop Rumble in Center City. Optimus headed the lead team.
Generations "Combat Hero Optimus Prime" is a metallic-blue, gunmetal, and red redeco of United Laser Optimus Prime, having the retooled tab, and being based on the canceled Generation 2 Combat Hero Optimus Prime figure, sporting a red mouthplate inspired by the official catalog image for the unreleased toy (packaged samples had featured a traditionally colored gray mouthplate). He comes packed with a (vaguely) Generation 2-styled Deluxe Class Autobot Jazz, as well as unchanged releases of Generations Legends Class Thundercracker and Motorbreath.

I understand what you’re saying. You want it to be like the Cybertron games of making them look less earth but still have the colors and molds of G1. Because I never knew that G1 actually had their vehicles molds in their Cybertron Alt Molds. I thought that was so stupid having earth vehicles parts on Cybertron. But they had to make the G1 fans and Bay fans happy so they took the cartoon and modernize it with some bayism look. I think they did good but I can see some parts being better.

As with other Dark of the Moon Activators toys, this Optimus Prime (released under the Robo Power subline) is a very simple one-step transformation toy. You simply slam him down on the big blue button on the back end of his truck mode and he transforms thanks to spring-loaded mechanisms. To transform him back, just slam him down again on the same blue button.
Featuring a complex transformation, essentially the front and back ends of the truck fold and converge to become Optimus Prime's legs, as much of the truck rear is connected to the robot thighs via a series of folding panels. The rear wheel cowlings feature a hinge joint in the middle of them so they do not impede his knee articulation. The rear cabin of the cab, directly connected to the smokestacks, rotate and connect to his torso and unfold into his arms. As with most mainline Movie toys, Optimus Prime features Automorph gimmicks, and due to his pricepoint has three of them. Firstly, during initial transformation, rotating his front fenders to become his heels flips the top parts of the grill to become his toes. Secondly, sliding out the double-barrel cannon in his right forearm flips out his spring-loaded Ion Blaster, which lands into place for his right hand. (The Ion Blaster can actually be popped off his forearm fairly easily, held in place by a simple clip.) Optimus' final Automorph, located in his torso, is activated by flipping the silver lever on his stomach activating a series of spring-loaded actions where the truck windows are pushed apart, and the lever between them is raised, enabling the head to spring up from the chest cavity. At this point yellow LEDs light up the chest windows and Optimus Prime's eyes, accompanied by a "powering up" sound effect.
Originally, Optimus Prime was created as the leader of the Autobots, though it is unknown how he was created or his origins. In a possible future, Megatron was threatened by the existence of the Aerialbots and had Shockwave build a time machine to send them back in time to get rid of them. However, he only ended up changing history for the better. In the revised timeline, Optimus Prime began his life as a robot named Orion Pax, a mostly defenseless dock worker during the Golden Age of Cybertron nine million years ago, with a girlfriend named Ariel and a best friend named Dion. During this time, a new breed of robot with new flight capabilities appeared on the planet that Orion idolized. When Megatron, the leader of the new group of robots, approached him with inquiries about using one of the dock warehouses, Orion was swayed by Megatron. Both Orion and Ariel were severely wounded when Megatron and his forces attacked in order to claim the energy stored there. Searching for someone to help them, the time-displaced Aerialbots took Orion and Ariel to the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion, who used them as the first subjects for the new reconstruction process he had developed involving rebuilding the frail Autobot frames into more battle-hardy configurations.